Floating deck



J. F. KIMBELL Jan. l2, 1932.

FLOATING DECK Filed May 25, 192s s shets-sheet J. F. KIMBELL Jan. 12, 1932.

FLOAT ING DECK Filed May 23, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 JM@ E mme/- v vW/I/ Jan. 12, 1932.

J. F. KIMBELL.

FLOATING DECK Filed May 23, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 James F Kz'mbQIZ;

Patented Jan. 1 2, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAMES F. XIMBELL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO CONSOLIDATED STEEL CORPORATION, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A

CORPORATION F CALIFORNIA FLOATING DECK Application led Kay 23, 1928. Serial No. 279,873.

This invention relates to a floating deck for oil storage tanks or containers, and refers particularly to a floating deck of the pontoon type.

Heretofore, the floating decks of the pontoon type in commercial use have been formed of individual pontoon members which were constructed and sealed before they were assembled into the floating deck.

A disadvantage of this mode of construction resides in the fact that the pontoons are bulky and that the shipping costs are high.

A general object of the present invention is to provide a form of pontoon floating deck in which the pontoons are made with detachable tops, so that the pontoons may be separated from the tops and nested together while shipping the pontoons.

A further object of the present invention is 2o to provide a form of floatin deck in which the individual pontoon mem ers can be secured together in the form of a rigid gastight, continuous floating deck surface by a small number of attaching means which can be uickly operated to unite the pontoon mem ers into the continuous deck.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a floating deck with an improved form of drain pipe.

Another ol'ect of the present invention is to provide a oating deck with an improved form of interior bracing.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a floating deck which may be successively operated with the individual pontoon segments sealed gas-tight without danger of the pontoons rupturing or being distorted by development of gas pressure within the individual pontoons.

Various further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the descri tion of a referred form or example of a oating dec embodying this invention.

For this urpose, there is hereinafter described a oatin deck of preferred form, the floating deckeing described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichu. Figure l is an yelevation in vertical section of a tank provided with a floating deck embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation partially in vertical section of the center construction of the deck, showing the attachment to the center Well.

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan vieW of the upper swivel joint with the swing pipe of the deck.

Figure 4 is an enlarged plan view partially in section, of the swivel joints at the center and bottom of the swing pipe.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken through one of the supporting lugs of the floating deck.

Figure 6 is an enlarged plan view of a segment of the floating deck.

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic plan view of a complete floating deck.

Figure 8 is an enlarged vertical, fragmentar y section of the floating deck taken through one of the clamps.

Figure 9 is a plan view of the structure shown in Figure 8.

Figure 10 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the floating deck broken away to show the internal brace.

Figure 11 is a section through one of the` is mounted a floating deck 2, designed to float upon the oil within the tank 1, said floating deck 2 is indicated as provided at its Iperiphery with suitable spring pressed sea s 3 for engagement with the walls of the tank 1, in order to seal the space between the tank 1 and floating deck 2. The floating deck 2 is indicated as made up of a plurality of pontoon members 4, shaped so that they can be fitted toegther to form a continuous floating deck surface, and the pontoon members 4 as illustrated most clearly in Figures 6, 7 and 10, are preferably sector shaped in plan and adapted to form a plurality of concentric rings 5 of pontoons, so that the floating deck, by the admission or addition of subsequent rings of pontoons can be made of larger or smaller diameter.

' side walls may be formed from individual sheets of metal welded together as indicated at 8, or the bottoms 6 and the sides 7 may be one continuous piece of sheet metal. By making the bottoms 6 and the sides 7 of different pieces of sheet metal, the sides and bottoms may be made of metal of different thickness. Sheet metal employed in storage vessels is in danger of distintegration due to corrosion. This corrosion can be prevented on the outer exposed parts of the sheet metal by properly painting the same. The bottom plates 6 of the individual pontoons in operation, are continuously emerged in oil, which substantially eliminates any corrosive tendencies. The side walls 7 of the pontoon members are neither entirely emersed in liquid, nor exposed so that they can be covered with protecting paint, and there is therefore the possibility that these walls will corrode more ra idly than the bottom walls.

I pre er, therefore, to make the side walls 7 of slightly thicker sheet metal than the bottom walls 6. For example, the bottom walls 6 may be made of No. 14 sheet metal and the side walls 7 may be made of No. 10 sheet metal.

The upper ends of the side walls 7 of the pontoon members 4c are offset inwardly, as indicated at 9, to provide a groove between adjacent pontoon members. 'I'he tops of the pontoons are formed by top members 10 of light sheet metal, such as No. 14 gage and are detachable with the bottoms and sides of the pontoons, and for this purpose, are provided with periphery flanges 11 which are downturned and extend into the grooves between the pontoons formed by the offsets 9. This construction of the pontoons prevents the entrance of water or other liquid from the top of the deck into the pontoons, even without the use of any seal between the top and remainder of the pontoons.

There is preferably provided, a means for sealing the space at the bottom of the pontoons in order to eliminate escape of gas therebetween. For this purpose, a gasket 12 is shown which, at its upper end, is made gastight by the use of a sealing medium 13, such as bituminous cement.

For attaching the individual pontoon members together, one or more lever clamps 14 are utilized on each side of the pontoon members, said lever clampsare preferably composed of a bottom bracket or jaw member 15a, under the top wall 10 of the pontoons, which bracket or jaw member 15 is provided with a gripping ridge 16, fitting under the offsets 9 on the side Walls 7. The lever clamps also comprise an upper bracket or fulcrum member 17 above the top plate 10 and having a U-shaped vertical portion 18, the upper end of which terminates in a pivot point 19. The fulcrum member and jaw member 14 are attached together by suitable means such as a bolt 20, passing through the top wall and there is placed a gasket 21 under the upper bracket or fulcrum member 2O for forming a gas-tight seal.

The adjacent pontoon member is provided with a lower bracket or jaw member l5-a complementary to the jaw member 15 and also with an upper bracket or fulcrum member 17-a complementary to the member 17. The members 17 and 17-a have their pivot points 19 and 19-a offset, as indicated at 23, so that they interlock, and these members will not tend to slide apart.

There is also provided a means such as a bolt 24 between the vertical portions of the fulcrum members 17 and 17-a for drawing said members together. In use of the construction thus described, the fulcrum members and jaw members are connected, lirst to their respective bolts, and the bolts 20 taken up. By tightening up upon the bolt 24, the clamping means 14 acts as a vise for the parts operating on the pivot 19 and 19e-a to press the jaw members 15 and 15-a together, compressing the pontoon members tightly to gether and compressing the gasket 12 between the top walls until a gas-tight, rigid joint is formed between the pontoon members. This gas-tight joint is formed, leaving the greater portion of the surfaces between ad'acent pontoon members 4 flush.

ach of the pontoon members is provided with a slight slope from the periphery of the floating deck, towards the center of the floating deck, in order that any water or other liquid falling upon the floating deck Will drain to the center. In the center of the floating deck, there is provided a center member 25, the top of which may be omitted so as to form a center well for the deck, which may be normally covered by a lid 26, if desired.

The member 25 is provided with a discharge nipple 26 which extends downwardly and communicates with a horizontal pipe section 27, connecting with a rectangle of i e 28 which constitutes a part of a swivel ]omt between pantagraph swing pipe members 29 and 30, which constitute a part of a discharge drain line for the floating deck. The members 29 and 30 connect with swivels 31 and 32 connecting with other pipe sections 33 and 34, which connect to swlvels 35 and 36, and hence to a tee 37 and to a line 38, which discharges exterior to the tank 1.

Swivel joints 31 and 32 are formed by providing at the end of the pipes 29 and 30, triangular pipe sections 39 (see Fig. 4), ythe transverse section 40 of which connects with a sleeve 41 having a nipple 42 to which are attached the lower pipes 33 and 34. The sleeve 41 is pivotally mounted upon the pipe section 40 and the pipe section 40 has a plurality of lateral openings 43 so that .it may discharge into the sleeve41, and hence out through the nipple 42, and the pipe line 33 or 34. The sleeve 41 constitutes also a packing holder holding ring packing 44 against rings 45, near the center of the sleeve. Glands 46 are threaded to the ends of the sleeve and engage packing followers 47.

The swivel joints connecting the pipes 29 and 30 with the rectangle of pipe 28 are of similar construction to the sleeves 41 and the swivel joints 35 and 36 are formed by similar swivel joints, the pipes 33 and 34 having trian ular sectlons similar to those illustrated in igure 4. y

rlhe swing pipe 'structure thus illustrated for the floating deck, of course, is capable of use on various types of floating decks and is not necessarily confined to its use upon a pontoon type of a Hoating deck.

Each pontoon member of the Hoating deck is also preferably provided with a means for supporting the floating deck, when the liquid is discharged from the tank and for this purpose, a vertical tube 50 is indicated as eX- tending through the pontoon members (see Figure 5), the lower end of the tube being welded to the bottom plate 6, the upper end of the tube being secured to the top plate 10 of the pontoon by means of a nut 51 threaded to the end of the tube 50. There is also threaded to the tube 50, a head 52 having a depending tubular leg 53 which extends below the Heating deck the desired distance. By this construction, the length of the supporting legs of the pontoons may be changed as desired, merely by unscrewing the heads 52 with their accompanying legs 53 and substituting a leg of longer or shorter length.

The pontoons of the present invention are each referably provided with a means for distri uting load and preventing the pontoons from being distorted in o eration.

In the use of the pontoons o the present invention, the pressure of the liquid on the lower platesl 6, if these plates were not properl braced, will cause the plates to bulge up slightly and some distortion of the floating deck may take place from this cause. Moreover, there is a need of a means for distributing the load of a person walking on the deck, probably over the bottom plate 6. For this purpose, there is provided within each pontoon, a truss 54 composed of bottom and a straight edged member 55, preferably of angle iron for fitting against the bottom plate 6 of the pontoon and preventing a bulge in this bottom plate. The truss 54 also includes a cocked straigihtedge 56 parallel with the member 55 an in position to gage the top plates 10 of the pontoon members and hold these also from bulging.

Various forms of inter-connection between the upper and lower straight edge member may be employed. The entire structure may, or example, be formed of angle irons with a number of vertical braces 57 between the straight edge members 55 and 56 and one or more diagonal braces 58. Preferably; the trusses 54 are held in operating position by being secured to the tops 10 of the ontoons. For this purpose, one or more sections of angle iron 59 are welded to the bottom of the top plate 10 and have bolt holes for receiving bolts 60 for attaching the trusses 54 to the top plates.

The truss thus described prevents the bottom plates from bulging upwardl by distributing the pressure of the liquid elow the deck, throughout the top plate of the deck and at the same time, rovides a means for distributing the load o any weight upon the top plate of the deck over the bottom plate 6 of the pontoons.

Each of the pontoons is preferably provided with a vent pine 61.

While the form of floating deck herein described is well adaptedV for carrying out the objects of the present invention, it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular form of Hoating deck herein described; or the purpose of illustrating the invention is well adapted to carry out the object of the invention, the invention is capable of numerous modifications and changes and substitutions of equivalents, all coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: v 1. A pontoon for a. floating deck comprising, an open top Heating member shaped to form with other members, a continuous Hoating deck surface, said member having an inward offset near the tops of its side walls, and a top member having downturned marginal Hanges extending over the offsets of the sides of said member.

2. A Heating deck of the type having a predetermined area which includes a plurality of individual members, each having a sheet metal walling, defining an open topped air chamber, tops for said members closing scid air chambers and detachable therefrom, and lever clamps for rigidly uniting the indiidlial members into a continuous Hoating 3. A floating deck composed of a plurality of enclosed pontoon members, and a plurality of lever clamps for rigidly and tightly holdingkthe individual members into a Hoating 4. A Hoating deck composed of a plurality of pontoon members, sai pontoon members lll.

being attached to ether into a continuous oating deck sur ace by means of lever clam s, said lever clamps comprising jaw members secured within the pontoons and fulcrum members on the exterior of the pontoon and having a pivot point above the top surface of the pontoon.

Signed at Los Angeles, Calif., this tenth day of May, 1928.

JAMES E. KIMBELL. 

